CA1122808A

CA1122808A - Flame-limiting device for a gas lighter

Info

Publication number: CA1122808A
Application number: CA342,863A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Joseph J. Vallera
Original assignee: Gillette Co LLC
Current assignee: Gillette Co LLC
Priority date: 1979-02-27
Filing date: 1980-01-02
Publication date: 1982-05-04
Also published as: US4235589A; JPS63697B2; FR2450418A1; JPS55116021A; BR8000583A; DE3007415A1; DE8005291U1; FR2450418B1; DE3007415C2

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure A flame height limiting device f or gas lighters is disclosed including a noncompressible permeable element (plug) through which the gas passes. This element is encased within a sleeve which is in contact only with materials of low thermal conductivity, but the permeable element and the sleeve are of high thermal conductivity. The plug is of non-uniform permeability and is oriented so that the permeability increases in the down-stream direction of gas flow.

Description

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BAc~r~ouND QF TI~L IllVENTION
Field of the Invention This invcntion relates to liqueEied gas lighters, and is directed more particularly to a device ~or limiting the flame height of a liquefied gas lighter.
Description of the Prior Art Most known devices used for limiting the flame height of liquefied gas lighters include a permeable element offering a resistance to the flow of the gas9 thus determining the rate at ~,7hich gaseous fuel is fed to the flame and hence the height of the flame.
When the permeable body is noncompressible, for example in the case of a sintered metallic or ceramic material, its intrinsic flow resistance determines the maximum gas flow rate and hence the maxi~um flame height provided by the lighter.
~hen used on its own, such a device furnishes a flame with a nonadjustable height. It may also be used in series with addi-. tional means for adjusting the gas flow rate in order to provide . a lighter with both an adjustable flame and a maximum flame height limited to a preset value as determined by the noncom-pressible permeable bodyO
Yt has been suggested to construct gas lighters having a maximum flame height limited to a certain preset value by : encasing a noncompressible permeable body within a sleeve of high thermal conductivity (over 40 kcal/m/h/~C), which sleeve is ,:

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in contact only with materials having low -thermal conductivity (0.3 to 5 kcal/m/h/C), in order to insulate the permeable body from unwanted heat~inputs emanating from the burner.
Gas lighters of such construction have been found frequently to exhibit the disadvantage of an unsteady flame in which the flame height gradually and substantially increases during the course of a sing "burn'i. , Accordingly it is the principal object of the present invention to pro~ide a li~hter of the type aboye 1~ described which exhibits a steady flame. A more specific object of the invention is to provide a li~hter which does not exhibit t~e aboye-described ~rowing ~lame problem.
~, With the above objects in view a feature of the present invention is the proyision of a $1ame hei~ht limiting '!
device for a gas lighter, whiGh includes a noncompressible ~ -permeable element throu~h~which the ~as passes, encased in ~luid-tight relationship within a slee~e of hi~h thermal ,; .
' ' conductivity, the sleeYe belng in contact only with ~aterials " of low thermal conductivlty~ in which t~e permeable element , has a permeability which increases in the aownstream direction.
' In a specific embodiment of the invention thq per~ea,ble element has a ~ermeability ~radient and is made of sintered metal. In anothe~ aspect the invention inY~lyes a, m,ethod of making gas lighters, o~ ~he aboye-described type in which the permeable element is first oriented ~or ~ .
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assembly into the lighter with the increased permeability end in the downstream direction~
The above and other featurcs of the invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing and pointed out in ~he claimsO It will be understood that the particular device embodying the invention is shot~n by illustration only and no~ as a limitation of the invention.
Brief Description of the Drawing Reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which is shot~n an illustrative embodi~ent of the invention f~om which its novel features and advantages will be apparent.
Fig. 1 is a partial axial cross section through a gas lighter with a flame-lim;ting device according to the inven-tion, and Fig. 2 is a cross section, on an enlarged scale, of the permeable element shown in Fig. 1.
Description of a Preferred Embodiment Referring to the drawing and first to Fig. 19 there is I ~ (portion of a) ~ shown aAmolded plastic gas lighter including body portion 1 and tube 2 molded integrally with body portion 1. Lower portion 3 o the tube 2 has an end (not shown) which communicates with a liquefied gas storage reservoir. As is well known within the art, communication with the fuel supply may alternatively be by means of a wick. Lower portion 3 of tube 2 has a smaller diam-eter than the upper portion 4, providing an internal shoulder ; . .
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A thimblc-shaped aluminum ~leeve 9 is force-fitted within tube 2 until it "bottoms" or rests on shoulder 5. An orifice 10 i5 formed in the otherwise-closed end of sleeve 9, and force-fitted within the sleeve in fluid-tight relationship is a sintered stainless steel (type 316) permeable element (plug) 8, of generally cylindrical shape, with a domed configuration 14 at its upper end (Fig. 2~ and a flat lower end 15. Plug 8 has a permeability gradient such tha~ ~he permeability increases in the downstream direction, or toward the top of the plug; and the domed configuration 14 at the more permeable end makes it convenient to identify that end by> for example, optical or.
mechanical inspection, and then orient the plug the correct way . during assembly.
The manufacture of porous plugs such as described herein is well known to those skilled within the art of powder metallurgy and forms no part of the present invention. Such porous metal may be formed of powdered or finely divided particles :-~ of the desired metal, which have been compacted (to the desired porosity) and sintered together in such manner that fine inter-. connected pores will remain distributed therethrough, thereby providing a multi~ude of fine tortuous passages through which the gas may flow through the piece. In the flame height limiting device of the present invention a plug of substantially uniform porosity results in the growing flame problem described above, ' . .
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:~ ' '', ' ' ,~' ''; ; ' o~ i !~ , and this problcm is worsc if a plug with a porosity gradient is orien~ed with the morP pcr~eable end upstream in the gas flow, 1~1 s~, :3s~,0~r~L~y 9~.~ while the problem is~eliminated ~8~e~he~ if the plug is oricntcd with the more permeable end downstream. In the gas lighter of the present invention it has been found convenient to specify, in order to produce an isobutane flame height of about 25 millimeters, that the plug have a nitrogen flow rate of 7.6 cc/min at 45 psig. Particularly good results are ob tained (i.e.9 a steady flame) when, in a comparison of nitrogen flow rates similarly measured, the more permeable one-hal~ of the plug has an average flow rate of about 38 cc/min and the less permeable one-half of the plug has an average flow rate of about 9.5 cc/min, the overall flow rate of the entire plug being the desired-7.-6 cc/minO
In the present example plug 8 has an overall len~th (along the path of fluid flow) of about 2.0 mm and a diameter of 1.42 mm. The aluminum sleeve 9 has a length of 5.95 mm, an outer diameter of 2.94 mm, and an inner diameter of 1.46 mm. The orifice 10 is formed with a somewhat countersunk configuration and has a smallest diameter of 0.70 mm.-A burner 7 fits slidably within upper portion 4 of tube 2 and has an axial passage 11 running from one end to the other. In the valve-closed position the lower end of the burner rests on seal 12 which closes orifice 10. At-the upper end of burner 7 a circular groove 13 is provided allowing for connection ` . , .
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to means (not shown) allowing the burner to be raised when ~he lighter is activated.
In operation the burner is raised, unseating seal 12 from orifice 10. The combustible gas leaving the reservoir follows a path through lower portion 3 of tube 29 passes through sintered metal plug 8 in the direction of its increasing permeability, then exits orifice 10 and flows around now-unseated seal 12 and through axial passage 11 to the outside, where it is burned.
While various aspects of the invention have been illustrated by the foregoing detailed embodiment, it will be understood that various substitutions of equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention~
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Claims

1. In a flame height limitation device for liquefied gas lighters including a noncompressible permeable plug through which the gas passes, said plug encased in fluid-tight relation-ship within a sleeve which is in contact solely with materials of low thermal conductivity, said plug and said sleeve having high thermal conductivity, the improvement which comprises:
said permeable plug having a permeability which increases in the downstream direction.

2. Flame height limitation device as defined in claim 1, in which said permeable plug has a permeability gradient.

3. Flame height limitation device as defined in claim 1, in which said permeable plug is made of sintered metal.

4. A method of making a flame height limitation device for liquefied gas lighters which include a noncompressible permeable plug through which the gas passes, said plug having non-uniform permeability throughout its length and being encased in fluid-tight relationship within a sleeve which is in contact solely with materials of low thermal conductivity, said plug and said sleeve having high thermal conductivity, said method comprising:
orienting said plug with its higher permeability in the down-stream direction.

5. A method as defined in claim 4, in which said permeable plug has a permeability gradient.

6. A method as defined in claim 4, in which said plug is made of sintered metal.